The Diego Diaries: Newbies 17 (341)
-0-Out there, the Last Great Frontier, Earth
Dev fell for a short distance, then landed on his peds silently. He looked everywhere quickly, then stood slowly. It was intensely dark, the sense of space around him falling away in all directions. He turned up the intensity of his night vision and looked up. Something above him was evident but what it was he didn't know. He moved back and looked at the hole he had fallen down through. Up above him the team waited, their optical light and indistinct shapes surrounding the hole.
He considered his situation, then moved along the side of a wall that he felt behind him. It was not smooth but rugged, as if it had been there itself for a very long time. He could hear the sound of water running nearby as well as a steady drip from the unseen ceiling. :Kup:
:Kup here. Where the frag did you go?:
:I fell down a hole: Dev said. :I'm in a cavern I think. I hear water and I think there's something here besides me:
:Step aside. We're coming down: Kup said as he looked at the others. :One at a time. Be ready to fight but try for stealth. Optimus: He paused waiting for a response. He didn't get one. Looking at the others, he nodded. Then he stepped into the darkness and fell silently.
Sunstreaker watched him, then followed. Sideswipe and Drift were next. Then it was quiet again.
-0-Prison
"What does Prime need for him to trust us again?" Decimus asked.
Ratchet considered that in light of the improbable conversation they were having, then shrugged. "I can't speak for him. You will have to ask him yourself."
"They're trying to destabilize Earth. They will gather intel, then agitate everyone and everything that they can," Sentinel said.
"We know," Ratchet said. "We just have to keep catching them and hunting all of them out."
Sentinel nodded. "What does Soundwave have to say about this?"
"I'm not sure," Ratchet lied. "Prime has it in servo. Ask him."
"Like he'd tell us," Ratbat said. He leaned back in his chair. "Tell us about your infants."
Ratchet considered that, then glanced at the blanket covered form on his arm. "Why would I do that? How do I know they will ever be safe again?"
"Do I look like I can harm anyone?" Ratbat asked snidely.
"I never underestimate a loser," Ratchet said levelly. "But since you asked so nicely," he said as the others grinned. "This is the newest. My oldest are adults. Then the first sparkling born here is the next. We have another son and a daughter before this one."
"Who sparked? As if I have to ask," Ratbat said with a smirk.
"Ironhide."
They looked at him, then grinned. "I doubt that," Sentinel said.
"Why?"
"Because he can no more spark than Ratbat can tell the truth. It isn't in him," Sentinel said. The others nodded. "You appear to be the more flexible partner in your dance of doom."
Ratchet snorted, then laughed. "Dance of doom. I'll remember that."
"I understand that every youngster in the city has to go to school," Decimus said.
"Its the law. Caste is outlawed here. By the way, do you know a mech named Burris?" Ratchet asked.
"I know him. We had mutual business interests," Decimus said with a nod. "Why?"
"He's in jail," Ratchet said. "He decided to continue The System and brought slaves here who were abused and famished. A real prince, that one. He's in the jail for now but he's heading this way shortly. I think there was talk of having him bunk with you."
"Oh great," Proteus said. "I never liked Burris. He's a pompous windbag."
"He's your pompous windbag," Ratchet said with a smile. "He's a piece of work."
"He always was. He didn't mind throwing mechs off their jobs and mechanizing their replacements. Stop me if you've heard this before," Proteus said drily.
Decimus shot him a severe optic. "You never refused your cut."
It was silent a moment. "Tell us about the football game coming up. I hear it will choose the finalist in the championship," Proteus asked as he settled in his chair more comfortably.
"Kaon is playing Vos. Praxus is a shoe-in for the final. If Vos wins, Iacon plays. But I think Kaon will win. They have the itch to make a lot of crap right by winning," Ratchet said.
Sentinel nodded. "Kaon has little to recommend it otherwise."
"I don't know," Ratchet said with slight offense. "My two oldest younglings are from Kaon. I owe that city one."
"Who might they be? They sound like an adoption," Decimus replied.
"Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. They are," Ratchet replied proudly.
"Ah, the ones bonded with Bluestreak," Decimus said with a slight grin. He looked at Sentinel with a smirk. "Sunstreaker."
Sentinel looked at him with a blase expression. He glanced back at Ratchet. "I am aware that they play football. I am also aware that there is a program for the infants. You really expect this colony to become a world. A permanent world for our people."
"We do," Ratchet said with a nod. "We were five when we came. Now we're a few more. All of our people are going to have the same opportunities as you had including our infants. No one gets left out."
"You mock traditions when those traditions made us great," Decimus said.
"No they didn't. They weren't even in keeping with the will of Primus. You do remember 'Until all are one' don't you? I do remember that the Pantheon and The One made that very clear. At least, that is what I heard," Ratchet said looking from one to the other.
"That is what was supposed to happen but it didn't. Things happen that are not accounted for in The Chronicles. We had to take care of them," Sentinel said. "I don't expect everyone to understand. They weren't there. They weren't charged with protecting and saving Cybertron."
"Maybe, but some of us think that our people are what makes Cybertron, Cybertron. But then, that might just be me," Ratchet said with a smirk.
No one said another word.
-0-Underground
They landed one after the other and moved out to make a line. It would appear they were in a cavern, the walls dripping as somewhere an underground source of water could be heard. It felt that there were beasts all around them, optics staring at them, danger suffusing all their personal space.
Sunstreaker glanced at his brother, then Devcon. :What now? Move out?:
:Give me a moment to reconn: Dev said as he stepped forward. The ground crunched under his ped and he paused kneeling to check out the footing. It was loose stuff, wet and brittle. Rising, he continued forward. That is, he did until something landed on him and the shouting began.
-0-At the gates of Cell Block C
Ratchet stood as the two guards worked out the code to let the gates fall. Behind him watching, the inmates sat occupying their seats. When Ratchet was gone, they looked at each other.
"What do you think you were doing, Proteus? You do know Prime will use what you said against you," Ratbat said angrily.
"I don't care. I am resigned to whatever comes. I don't see an advantage to keeping secrets anymore. When Megatron comes he will especially take his time killing us. You would do well to remember which side has the best opportunities of keeping us alive. They will abandon us here if he makes landfall. I hope they take those Decepticons on Earth apart before they cause trouble," Proteus said.
No one answered him. They all kept their counsel. They sat in the middling sunlight, their thoughts their own.
-0-Underground
Shouting and screaming filled the room along with the blast of shots as something or some things landed on them. It was brutal and swift, then the beast things were gone. Devcon stood pressed against a wall, his weapons trained outward. Kup was beside him and he stepped forward looking around to count the troops. :Sideswipe! Sunstreaker! Drift! Check in!: he said as he listened for their pings.
Sunstreaker sent his as he stood up, a slash across the front of his chassis leaking a trickle of energon. But no one else did. :SIDESWIPE! DRIFT!: Kup made the call, then Sunstreaker turned on the lights.
The room before them was a wide water carved cavern with a low ceiling. There was signs of habitation but no one was there now.
No one was there including Drift and Sideswipe.
-0-Above ground
They had come to a stop having lost the signal, then the rumbles of a battle could be felt coming nearby. Dumping out the soldiers, they transformed and hurried to the place where the tremors were sounding. Kneeling down, they put their servos on the ground and considered the situation as the humans gathered around, their faces reflecting their readiness and concern.
"That's a lot of noise, Prime. There are a lot of bots down there. Most cells on infiltration teams tend to be no more than five or six bots, maybe three teams all told," Ironhide said glancing at Prime. Springer stood beside Ironhide, a grim expression on his handsome face.
"I know," Prime said grimly. "Prime to Kup."
They all waited but no reply came, just the continuous rumble of peds, crashing bodies and shots. Then it became silent. All of the pounding stopped a moment, then a rush of tremors could be felt heading away. Seething with impotent rage, Optimus waited listening to the static on the comm line.
"Do we go underground, Optimus? Do we go and find out what happened?" Lennox asked.
"No," Prime said looking at his partner in arms. "Prime to Diego."
"Diego here, sir."
"Cliffjumper, who is on standby duty?"
"I am. So is Hound and Topspin."
"Triangulate on my transponder. Get here. Now!" Prime said as he rose staring down at the ground with fury.
"On our way," Cliff said as he cut off his transmission.
First Aid, his expression filled with fear and loathing looked at Prime. "I'm not too tall, Optimus. How about I go and see what happened?" Springer nodded.
"Not without backup," Prime said. He unsubbed his gun and looked at the others. "Stand back."
Everyone moved off as he aimed at the ground, his weapons revving up with coiled energy. They flashed and the ground divoted, large clods of earth, ice and muskeg exploding upward in reaction. The blasts continued and the hole grew larger. Flames singed the muskeg, then Prime disappeared as the roof caved and he fell inside.
Ironhide knelt and looked downward, the darkness filled with falling dirt and plant fibers. Springer stood over him, his weapons pointing down below as he strained to listen. "PRIME!"
A moment of scrambling, then Prime called back. "I'm alright. Kup! What happened?"
A shaft of light appeared as Kup stepped into view. All of the soldiers gathered around the hole staring downward as Prime stood kneeling in a cavern that stretched out into the blackness. "We were jumped. Dev is tracking them. Drift and Sideswipe were taken. We need to go now."
Prime looked around, then nodded. "Go. Keep me informed. Don't take them on. Follow and reconn. You're outnumbered and we don't need to agitate them further if they have those two."
Kup nodded and with an malicious appearing Sunstreaker in tow disappeared into the darkness ahead. Prime stood up and looked at the group around the hole. "Signal for the others. I'm going to come up in a moment," he said. Then he turned and knelt looking around the cavern, his lights filling it brightly.
There were signs of habitation, long time habitation and he examined the surrounding area for clues. A furious fight had happened, the crashing of metallic bodies against the walls of the cavern leaving tears, dents and rends in the frozen soil that held up the entire structure. Footfalls had laid out tracks, a great number heading off in the direction of the flowing water. Blast marks covered the walls and there were the odd bit and piece of metal that marked a hit. He picked them up and put them into his carry hold. Standing, he looked up.
Ironhide braced himself, Springer standing over him, then lent a servo. Gripping tightly, he pulled Optimus upward onto the surface. First Aid, his expression solemn looked at both. "What now, Optimus?" he asked. "They have two of us."
"We get them back," Optimus said with ominous conviction.
-0-Ops Center, Diego Garcia, Earth
Three other soldiers had taken the place of Hound, Topspin and Cliffjumper. They had grabbed their gear and beat the pavement to the tarmac where a runabout was waiting for them. Clambering inside, the door closed and the ship rose up disappearing right away.
In the N.E.S.T. HQ nearby, John Fulton and Glenn Morshower were having a three way discussion with Optimus as he let them know they were down two mechs. It was a grim group that worked in their particular Ops Center doing their part to get them back.
-0-Ops Center, Autobot City, Mars
Prowl stood alert and still as Optimus filled him in. He glanced at Bluestreak who had delivered the infants to Miler, then returned to help and wait for the twins to come back with the team. He looked up as Ratchet entered walking across the floor to the table. Ratchet paused noting the demeanor of Prowl and from long experience with the taciturn winger came to the conclusion that something terrible had happened. :Prowl. What?: he asked silently.
Prowl glanced at him. :Wait a second: He continued to listen, then signed off. Walking to the table he sat and gestured Ratchet to join him. Bluestreak looked up and considered his atar's affect. "What?" he asked.
"There was a shoot out in the tunnel," Prowl said directly, ever practical even as his tanks churned. "Drift and Sideswipe are missing and presumed captured."
Blue froze, then frantically sought internally Sideswipe's presence. It was muted as if he were unconscious. "He's ... he's still there. He's alive." :SUNSTREAKER!: There was no answer but Blue could feel his energy as if he were sleeping or it was muted. "I feel Sunny. What's going to happen?" Blue asked with emotion.
"We let them do their job, Bluestreak," Ratchet said, his own expression filled with emotion.
-0-TBC June 22, 2013 edited